CHINA OPEN

October 6, 2023

Iga Swiatek

Press Conference

I. SWIATEK/C. Garcia

6-7, 7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Iga, congratulations. Into the semifinals in Beijing for the first time. Can you give us your overall thoughts on the match today.

IGA SWIATEK: Well, for sure it was really intense. We played really fast. There was no time sometimes to think or analyze. I'm happy I used my intuition a lot. For sure a lot of tight moments. In both of these first sets, every ball counted. I'm happy that in the third I could just go for it. I didn't really have any kind of setbacks, even though I knew I could win this first set, I was happy with the way I played.

Q. I would like to ask how you were feeling towards the later end of that second set. I think you were 4-1 up, then suddenly found yourself down 6-5. Where did you find the mental strength to get through that moment? How did you take that into the final set where you again went far into the lead, but that time you were able to hold on?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, honestly I had no regrets 'cause when she was coming back she really served well, returned some amazing points. I think I'm playing a good game. I had no regrets and I didn't want to, like, change everything.

I just knew that she's risking, so it may come, her mistakes could come. I kind of wanted to see if she's going to be able to play like that till the end of the match. I just wanted to kind of be patient.

I wouldn't say I changed a lot. My mental state was kind of constant for the whole match. I was happy with the way I played. For sure I'm playing better than in Tokyo, for example. I felt like I could just fight and focus on proper things.

For me, it didn't really matter what the score is. I was just kind of enjoying the good state that I'm at.

Q. Just in terms of level in the first set in particular, no break points, you both were serving incredibly well. She's a different type of opponent to face in the way she goes about her aggressive game plan. Can you talk about what it took for you to unwind what she was doing, given how well she was playing?

IGA SWIATEK: Honestly, I felt like I need to appreciate more her mistakes because, as I said, she likes to risk a lot so she will make mistakes eventually. You kind of have to treat it as the point that you earned, you know? I tried to do that.

But overall I feel like our past matches were kind of the same, so I was ready for that. I wanted to take experience and just look for my chances, and that's what I did.

Q. This is your sixth first victory this year. You are also still the player who has the most wins this year. How do you keep your competitive level so high throughout this whole year?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I didn't really know that. It doesn't happen often. I'm happy to be that kind of player that is consistent. For two seasons already I played a lot. For sure I can feel that. I'm not going to lie. These seasons were not easy.

But for sure, I don't know, I just feel like I'm going right direction. All these wins mean that I'm one of the top players in the world. It's great to feel that. It's great to have the effect of all your work, you kind of feel more satisfaction.

But I'm kind of going to think about the stats maybe at the end of the season. For now I just want to go for next ones (smiling).

Q. It's your first time to come on the Diamond Court. Do you feel the difference between the two courts? You spent some time to adjust. What do you think is the atmosphere of the court? Do you like the audience there?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, I didn't feel like I need to adjust a lot because I really liked it. I just played warm-up on the Diamond Court. I knew that it's going to be great.

For sure you feel that you have more space on court behind you and on the side. The stands are pretty great. You feel like there's nothing bothering you, I don't know, when your opponent is tossing the ball. Yeah, people are kind of cheering really respectfully here I guess. This for sure helps. The atmosphere was great. I hope people enjoyed our game.

No, I got to say, like, I really like being here and playing here. I think it fits my game and I'm taking a lot of confidence from that. No matter what court I'm going to play, I feel like, yeah, this is a place for me to be kind of.

Q. Coco took the first set against Maria. In the event that you do play Coco next, what do you make of that match given kind of everything that's happened for both of you in the last couple of months? Have you watched her very much in since she's been building a streak?

IGA SWIATEK: I haven't 'cause I'm not (indiscernible) of tennis overall. But I'm sure I'm aware of what she's doing.

I know also how she plays, what she's improved, what she changed. I'm just going to use that information and not overanalyze because I think we're both good players. Now we just have to kind of both fight.

I'm sure it's not going to be an easy match probably. It's going to be tight. But I just hope I'll play a good game.

Yeah, as I said at the beginning, I'm just happy to play good tennis and not make too many mistakes and be solid. For me, I already happy with how that tournament went for me after what I kind of felt after US Open and Tokyo.

I'm in a good place, no matter what's going to happen tomorrow.

Q. In the tiebreak of the second set, you were 5-1 up, then Garcia leveled the score at 5-5. What were you thinking at that moment?

IGA SWIATEK: Well, nothing in particular. As I said, I know how she can play so it's not a surprise for me she can win few points in a row.

For sure I just wanted to be consistent with how I wanted to play, kind of balance out the risk, being solid, because you don't want to make a mistake at this stage of a set when it's five-something in a tiebreaker.

On the other hand you need to be proactive. I wanted to just balance that out and kind of go on my intuition a little bit.